Upholstery sewing machine



March 27, 1934. F. N'. Ross ET AL UPHOLSTERY SEWING MACHINE" 1932 5Sheets-Sheet l Filed June 21 March 27, 1934. F. N Ross ET AL 1,952,387

UPHOLSTERY SEWING MACHINE Filed June 21, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 13g MdrmMarch 27, 1934. F, N, R055 ET AL 1,952,387

UPHOLSTERY SEWING MACHINE Filed June 21, 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Zzgl?March 27, 1934. F. N. Ross Er Al.

UPHOLSTERY SEWING MACHINE Eiled June 21, 1932 5 eats-Sheet 4 Z6 Z5 7J.galvzeyy March 27, 1934. F, N Ross ET AL 1,952,387

UPHOLSTERY SEWING MACHINE y /nmmlI im? #LM 1,952,387 PATENT oFFlcEUPHOLSTERY SEWING MACHINE Frederick N. Ross, Grosse Pointe Park, andHorace L. Johnson, Detroit, Mich., assignors to Briggs ManufacturingCompany, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application June v21,1932, Serial No. 618,508

2 Claims.

This invention relates to the manufacture of upholstery for seatcushions formed by feeding simultaneously through machines of thegeneral type described in our prior application Serial No.

578,630, filed December 3, 1931, finish and lining fabrics and aplurality of strips of padding, such as cotton bat, and uniting thefabrics by lines of stitching between the strips of cotton bat. If thethread supplied to one or more of the sewing heads breaks, the machinemust be stopped and the ends of the broken thread united. The materialsof which the upholstery is formed continue to travel through the machinean appreciable distance before the machine can be brought to a completestop. Consequently, when operation of the machine is continued, one ormore of the lines of stitching will be incomplete and a portion of theupholstery will be defective and must be repaired satisfactorily orotherwise it will be a total loss. The repair of such defective portionspresents a difficult problem on account of the diculty in handling.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an eiiicientmachine for repairing defect portions of upholstery by completingdefective lines of stitching therein.

Before explaining in detail the present invention, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Alsoit is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, and itis not intended to limit the invention beyond the terms of the severalclaims hereto appendedA as considered in view of the prior art and therequirements thereof.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings: in which,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational View of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the same with the top cover of the angeremoved;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken upon the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Figs. 5 and 6 are detail elevational views of a portion of the machineshowing the parts in different positions;

Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are detail perspective views illustrating theoperation of the needle and looper and Work feed and supportingmechanism; f

Fig. 11 is a detail View of a portion of the work support;

Fig. 12 is a detail view of a portion of the machine;

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a piece of upholstery having adefective line of stitching;

Fig. 14 is a similar View showing the defective line of stitchingcompleted by the apparatus of the invention; and,

Fig. l5 is a sectional view taken upon the line 15-15 of Fig. 14.

An apparatus illustrating one embodiment of the invention is shown inthe accompanying drawings and comprises a frame having suitable bearingsin which a shaft 9 carrying a feed roll 1i is rotatably mounted. An arm12 is suitably secured upon slides 13 and 14 mounted in suitable waysformed in the frame 10. The free end of the arm 12 is provided with aspindle upon which afeed roll is freely rotatable. A bell crank 16 isfixed upon a shaft 17 mounted for rotation in suitable bearings in theframe 10. One arm 18 of the bell crank extends into a slot 20 in theslide 14 and the other arm 21 is connected to one end of the rod 22, theother end of which is operatively connected with a foot treadle 23. Aspring 24 surrounds the shaft 17 and is secured at one end to the frame10 and at its other end to the shaft 17 so as normally to hold the freedroll 15 in position to cooperate with the roll 11, as illustrated inFigs. 1, 3 and 4.

A needle 25 is suitably mounted on a shaft 26 which is slidably mountedin suitable bearings in the frame 10. A looper 27 is secured upon oneend of a shaft 28 which is mounted to cooperate with the needle 25, asdescribed hereinafter, to form a line of stitching. The needle shaft 26and the looper shaft 28 may be actuated by a suitable mechanismcomprising a shaft 29 mounted for rotation in suitable bearings in theframe 10. A cam 30 is xed upon the shaft 29 and is adapted to engage acam slot 31 in a block 32 xed upon the needle shaft 26. The looper shaft28 is rotatably mounted in a member 33 movably guiding in guides 34 and35 in the frame. One end of the member 33 is provided with an inclinedslot 36 adapted to engage a pin 37 eX- tending between the guides 34.The member 33 is also provided with an extension 38 pivotally connectedat its end to the end of a crank arm 39 carried by a shaft 40 which isrotatably mounted in suitable bearings in the frame. An arm 41 fixedupon the looper shaft 28 extends through an opening in the member 33 andis arranged to extend laterally therefrom into a cam groove 42 in awheel 43 fixed upon the shaft 29. A cam 85 xed upon the shaft 29 engagesa slot 86 in the member 33.

An arm e5 is provided near one end with an eccentric ring 46 engaging aneccentric 47 fixed upon the shaft 29. The other end of the arm ispivotally connected to one end of a lever 48, the other end of which ispivotally connected to one end of an arm 49. The lever 48 is providedwith a slot 50 embracing a stud 51 ixed in the frame. The other end ofthe arm 49 is provided with a forked projection 52 embracing an annularrib 53 on a gear 5 4 fixed on a shaft 55 rotatably mounted in the frame.The gear 54 meshes with a gear 56 xed on a shaft 57 rotatably mounted inthe frame and carrying a pinion 58. An idler pinion 59 meshes with thepinion 58 and a pinion 66 fixed upon the shaft 9.

The shaft 29 carries a pulley 44 which is connected by a belt 77 with apulley 78 carried by one element of a clutch and which may beoperatively connected with the armature shaft of a motor by actuation ofa clutch lever 8l operatively connected with a foot treadle 82.

In accordance with the invention, an arm 61 is suitably secured upon theframe 10, as by bolts 62. A blade o1 work support 63 is hinged upon theupper end of the arm 61 and extends upwardly between the feed rolls 11and i5. If desired, the work support 63 may be provided with alongitudinal extending slot 75 and a transverse slot 76 extending fromthe slot 75 to the top edge of the support 63. A work guide, such as aroll 64, is carried by an arm 65 suitably secured to the frame 10. Aguide roll 66 is carried by an arm 67 which is secured to a plate 68 asby screws 69. The plate 68 is secured upon the free end of the arm 12,as by a screw 71. The plate 68 is provided with a guide passage 72 forthe needle 25 and with a passage 73 through which the looper 27 maypass. Preferably, the guide rolls 64 and 66 are provided with anoperative surface of curved cross section adapted to engage the Work andhold the same against the top edge of the work support 63 and againstthe side surfaces of the latter.

In the operation of the apparatus the operator steps on the treadle 23,causing the bell crank 16 to turn in a clockwise direction, as viewed inFigs. 3 and 4, which in turn moves the slide 14 and arm 12 to the right,from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig. 5,against the action of the spring 24. This permits the work support 63 tobe moved away from the feed roll 11 so that the work W may be placedupon the work support 63 with the defective line of stitchings againstthe upper edge of the work support. The treadle 23 is then released,thereby permitting the spring 24 to return the arm 12 from the positionshown in Fig. 5 to that shown in Fig. 6, to cause the feed roll 15 toengage the work and move it together with the work support toward thefeed roll 11 to bring the work in engagement with the latter. Theoperator then steps upon the foot treadle 82, thereby con' necting themotor 30 with the shaft 29.

Rotation of the shaft 29 causes reoiprocation of the needle shaft 26,desired movement of the looper 27 and intermittent rotation of the feedroll 11 in predetermined timed relation to feed the work W and completethe defective line of stitching. Rotation of the shaft 29 causesrotation of the eccentric 47, cam v3i) and wheel 43. The cam 30 producesreoiprocation of the needle shaft 26. The wheel 43 causes turning of theloopei` shaft 28 while the cam 85 reciprocates the member 33 and loopershaft. The pin 37 and the slot 36 in one end of member 33 cooperate tocause that end of the member 33 to rise and fall while the crank arm 39causes the other end of the member 33 to rise and fall duringreoiprocation of the latter. Rotation of the eccentric 47 causesreoiprocation of the arm 45 which results in oscillation of the lever48. Movement of the lever 48 in one direction causes the forkedprojection 52 on the arm 49 to grip the rib 53 and rotate the gear 54 asmall amount. Movement of the lever 48 in the opposite directiondisengages the projection 52 and rib 53 and causes the projection 52 toreturn to its original position without rotation of the gear 54. Therotation of the gear 54 produces a corresponding rotation of the feedroll 11.

The operation of the mechanism above described rst causes the needleshaft 26 to move to the right through the work as viewed in Fig. 7. Whenthe needle 25 begins to retract, the looper 27 has moved axially to theright'and downward and has turned to bring the looper 27 to the positionshown in Fig. 8. By this time the needle has retracted and the frictionon the thread in the work has formed a loop. The looper then moves toengage the loop and moves the loop over the edge of the work as shown inFig. 9 and then downward as shown in Fig. lo. At this time the needleagainmoves toward the work and through the loop and thence through thework. This sequence of operations is repeated until the defective lineof stitching is completed. The operator then releases the foot treadle45 to stop the sewing mechanism and then steps upon the treadle 23 tomove the feed roll l5 from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown inFig. 5, thereby permitting the work support to be moved in the samedirection and permit the work to be removed therefrom.

We claim:

1. In a sewing machine having a frame, a movable arm, a pair of workfeed members, one of which is carried by said frame and the other ofwhich is carried by said arm, means for moving said arm to causemovement of said feed members relatively toward and away fromv oneanother, a needle and a looper, means for actuating said needle andlooper, the combination therewith of a work support adapted to positionwork between said feed members and in the path of movement ;f

ci' said needle. meansl for mounting said work support to permitmovement thereof in the direction of said relative movement of the feedmembers, and a pair of work guide members adapted to position the workon said support as it approaches said feed members, one of said guidemembers being carried by said frame and the other being carried by saidarm.

2. In a sewing machine having a pair of work feed members one of whichis movable toward opening to permit reoiprocation of the needle throughthe work and tightening of the stitch therein, and a pair of work guidemembers adapted to position the work on said support as it appreachessaid feed members, one of said guide members being movable toward andaway from A the other.

FREDERICK N. ROSS. HORACE L. JOHNSON.

